WUNRN
Global Alliance Against Traffic in
Women - GAATW
Direct Link to Full
98-Page 2011 Report:
The need to reduce ‘demand’ for
trafficked persons is widely mentioned in the anti-trafficking sector but few
have looked at ‘demand’ critically or substantively. Some ‘demand’-based
approaches have been heavily critiqued, such as the idea that eliminating sex
workers’ clients (or the ‘demand’ for commercial sex) through incarceration or
stigmatization will reduce trafficking. In this publication, we take a look at
the links between trafficking and: (1) the demand for commercial sex, and (2)
the demand for exploitative labour practices. We assess current approaches used
to reduce each of these types of ‘demand’ and consider other long-term
approaches that can reduce the demand for exploitative practices while
respecting workers’ and migrants’ rights (e.g. enforcing labour standards,
reducing discrimination against migrants, supporting sex workers’ rights).